State will 'soon' send funds to CTA, Quinn says

Payments had been promised so that agency could avoid fare hikes

Gov. Pat Quinn pledged Thursday that the state will "soon" come through with promised payments to the Chicago Transit Authority so the agency is not forced to raise fares.

The CTA agreed to cancel proposed fare hikes for this year and next after the state agreed to cover for two years the cost of a loan the Regional Transportation Authority took out to make ends meet. The state has been slow to produce those funds.

"No, they aren't going to raise fares," Quinn said at a groundbreaking ceremony for a Salvation Army community center in the West Pullman neighborhood. "We have an agreement that we have with the RTA, and they will get the funds necessary to make sure the fare freeze for this year and next year continues. We're in a tough economic time, and there aren't going to be any fare increases at the CTA."

Quinn said the transit agencies will get the funds "as soon as we possibly can."

CTA President Richard Rodriguez told the Tribune on Wednesday that the state committed to making two payments — one in November and the second in December — to catch up on its late payments to the CTA. The total amount owed is about $94 million.

Rodriguez said he is confident the state will meet its commitment, based on talks the CTA and RTA have had with Quinn's aides.

But both Rodriguez and CTA Chairman Terry Peterson also said Wednesday that if the state fails to come through, the CTA would need to revise its proposed budget for next year, reducing expenses and raising new revenue. That means likely service cuts, possible fare hikes and more employee layoffs.

Fare hikes are possible because the deal over the loan proceeds stipulated that the money must be paid to continue freezing fares.